NHL Western Conference Preview 2009/2010
A Look Ahead With Predictions At The Team's From The West 2009/2010
Oct 5, 2009
Here’s a team-by-team preview of the NHL’s Western Conference as the first weekend of action gets underway along with predictions:
15. Phoenix Coyotes- Dave Tippett is a very good coach and Phoenix has a group of potentially very good young players, but it’s hard to imagine this team performing up to standard with the amount of administrative off-season talk and Gretzky’s last minute departure, just too many distractions.
14. Nashville Predators- Coach Barry Trotz finds a way to keep his team competitive year in year out in spite of the numerous salary cuts that the organisation takes each year. Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Dan Hamhuis give the Predators a good defense but in a stronger division Nashville will struggle.
13. Colorado Avalanche- It will be strange to see a Colorado without Joe Sakic. This is now Paul Stastny’s team and he must stay healthy if they are to be competitive, the defense is starting to get a little long in the tooth and Craig Anderson must try and establish himself as a true #1.
12. Dallas Stars- Dallas welcomes a new coach in Marc Crawford as they try to recover after missing the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons last year. The Stars shouldn’t have any problems scoring goals but Marty Turco will need to have a better year behind a very inexperienced defense.
11. Minnesota Wild- Martin Havlat becomes the new franchise player in Minnesota as the Wild underwent a major change in philosophy with Jacques Lemaire’s tenure coming to an end. Goaltender Nicklas Backstrom is among the NHL’s best and will keep this team competitive.
10. Edmonton Oilers- A young and talented Edmonton disappointed last season and will look to make amends this year. Speed, skill and youth amongst the forwards should translate into goals if they can fulfill their potential, the defense will also provide its fair share of offense and Nikolai Khabibulin takes over in net after a strong showing in Chicago last year.
9. Columbus Blue Jackets- Columbus finally reached the playoffs and has strong ambitions to repeat this season. Ken Hitchcock will have them playing disciplined hockey in front of last year’s rookie sensation Steve Mason. Rick Nash showed his commitment to the city by signing an extension in the summer, a signal of intent that the captain will hope has a ripple down effect.
8. Los Angeles Kings- Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Alexander Frolov lead the offense along with new addition Ryan Smyth, young defensemen Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson patrol the blue-line, if Quick can provide solid goaltending this Kings team will be very strong.
7. St. Louis Blues- St. Louis came alive to make the 2009 playoffs and they’ll rely on much the same formula in 2009/10. Chris Mason will need to pick up where he left off and provide consistent goaltending throughout the year, while Erik Johnson’s return will boost the defense and power-play.
6. Anaheim Ducks- Anaheim loses Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin but adds good scoring depth in Saku Koivu. Ryan Whitney will be key playing big minutes on defense along with Scott Niedermayer. Jonas Hiller and J.S. Giguere make for a formidable goaltending tandem and the top line Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan does just about everything on a strong looking team.
5. Chicago Blackhawks- Chicago will have ambitions of supplanting Detroit and will certainly be hoping to take the next step come playoff time. The Hawks are a talent-loaded team with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith leading them again; but can Huet handle the #1 role?
4. Calgary Flames- Jay Bouwmeester is added to an already dominant defense that includes Robyn Reghr and Dion Phaneuf playing in front of the reliable Mikka Kiprusoff. Calgary is very strong again though scoring depth beyond Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen is a concern.
3. Vancouver Canucks- Roberto Luongo is the unquestioned leader of this team and should lead them into the playoffs. Christian Ehrhoff and Mathieu Schneider have been added to a very solid defense and the Sedin twins as the go-to offensive players.
2. Detroit Red Wings- Marian Hossa and Jiri Hudler are two of the key names lost by Detroit this off-season leading to speculation that an ageing Red Wings roster might be ready for a drop. Chris Osgood is still not a certain thing in net but Detroit has great talent in the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski, too much talent to slip up in the regular season at least.
1. San Jose Sharks- Can Dany Heatley make the difference? San Jose possesses strong goaltending, a great offense led by Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau and a strong defense. This team will once again be one of the top teams in the NHL but can they achieve post-season success? It’s tough for the Sharks but Heatley just doesn’t quite seem like the answer.
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